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Let's Read: The Once and Future King (Ch.23)

So the people are
setting out for London but Kay’s “sumptuous bath had to be set up in the
box-room, between two towel-horses and a worn out straw dart-board” (200).
Doesn’t seem like the kind of grand reception one would receive as a knight,
but hey, when you gotta get a going, it makes sense. But they get to London and
Kay is getting quite pale thinking about jousting in such a grand tournament.
When they arrive at the field, however, Kay realizes he has forgotten his sword
and orders Wart to fetch it for him, for one shilling.

Damn, what an
ass, right? Well Wart rationalizes it as him being nervous and scared and
whatnot.

So Wart rushes
back to their inn in town, but he is unable to get inside since, you know, it
is locked. He starts to think of a million different ways he could get a
sword—from stealing one to begging for one—before he happens upon a certain
sword in a certain stone (beneath a certain anvil).

“In the middle of the square,
there was a heavy stone with an anvil on it, and a fine new sword was struck
through the anvil” (203).

Yup! It is going
to be one of those kind of stories, where the young lad doesn’t even know the
severity of what he is doing before he attempts to pull the sword from the
stone. I wonder if everyone else who was in this vein simply copied White.

But Wart grabs
hold of the sword.

“’This is extraordinary,’ said
the Wart. ‘I feel strange when I have hold of the word, and I notice everything
more clearly. Look at the beautiful gargoyles of the church, and the monastery
which it belongs to. See how splendidly the famous banners in the isle are
waving. How nobly that yew holds up the red flakes of its timber to worship
God. How clean the snowis.”

This is pretty
cool.

If White is
adhering to legend, then this isn’t Excalibur, since, if I remember correctly,
that word was given to King Arthur by the Lady in the Lake. But what I find
neat is that the sword here has supernatural elements; the bearer views the
world more acutely and with a better understanding of everything around him. It
reminds me of the Iron Throne from Game
of Thrones (I wonder if Martin ripped White in this regard). Sort of gives
Wart a kind of super-power.

“There was a kind of rushing
noise, and a long chord played along with it. All around the courtyard there
was hundreds of old friends” (204).

So this is the
epic finale: as Wart is trying to free the sword from the stone, all of his
various hundreds of animal contacts from his education under Merlyn come
rushing to help him out; they encourage him, give him advice and inspiration
and so fill out the square, urging him on by reminding Wart of his
accomplishment as an animal and how he should go about in dislodging the sword.
I won’t lie—this is a pretty epic moment and gave me some goosebumps.

Wart takes their
advice.

“The Wart walked up to the
great sword for the third time. He put out his right hand softly and drew it
out as gently as from a scabbard” (205).

Fucking awesome!

Then the scene
ends and the finale bit of the chapter concerns Wart giving the sword to Kay
and Kay trying to take advantage of the sword-pulling to become king. When his
father, Sir Ector, questions him, however, he admits that it was Wart who
pulled the sword from the stone. After, Sir Ector and Kay fall to their knees and
proclaim loyalty to Wart as Wart tears up and wants things to go back to the
way that they were, since, you know, he is so pure and whatnot.

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Lately, I was browsing around online and found another handy resource for aspiring medievalists.

Enter, Western Michigan University's Medieval Institute!

The site has links to an extensive book shop, scholarly journals, as well as a free download. See below for links.

General listing: http://scholarworks.wmich.edu/medievalpress/
Index of titles available for purchase: http://www.wmich.edu/medievalpublications/all-titles
The 'Medieval Globe' book(s): http://scholarworks.wmich.edu/medieval_globe/ (Click on title(s) for free download)

Okay, that is all for now. Sometime soon I think that I would like to organize all of my resource links so that I, as well as you, have a concrete listing of reliable resources. Until then, we shall have to make due.